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Sunday, December 2, 2012

It Sucks to be a Vikings Fan

Today reminded Minnesota Vikings fans why it sucks to be a Vikings fan. Once again there was only one good player for the Minnesota Vikings. His name is Adrian Peterson. Everyone else sucked big time. The Vikings needed to win this game against the Packers to have a chance at making the playoffs.

It’s not like the Packers weren't beatable today. It’s just that it was the Minnesota Vikings who played them. We have a quarterback who made bonehead plays after bonehead plays, throwing idiotic interceptions when the team was in scoring position. Ponder made some atrocious throws and just isn't progressing the way he should. It’s fair to say he sucked today.

Then there’s the Minnesota Vikings defense. There’s not a word to describe how bad they were today. They couldn't stop the run when they had to. They let the Packers run through them all day long and then when there was a chance to stop the Packers they allowed Aaron Rogers to complete passes to extend drives.

If there are a games that are must wins for Vikings fans it's when they face their arch rival Green Bay Packers. This was a poor effort for Minnesota today. This was inexcusable.
Ponder needs to take the blame for this as much as the defense, even more. The Vikings defense did make some plays.

Ponder can’t do anything in the passing game. Instead he made mistakes. He made terrible mistakes. Ponder was 9/22 for 119 yards, 1 touchdown and two interceptions. That was bad enough for a 41.9 passer rating 119 yards is not good enough for an NFL quarterback. It’s not the first time this guy has played this poorly and failed to do anything in the passing game.

This Vikings loss is a bitter pill for me to swallow. I believe that the Vikings could have won this game. When you have a running back in Adrian Peterson (AP) who runs for 210 yards on 10 carries with one touchdown you, should be able to win the game. When you don't, you have major issues.

Those major issues are being faced in the Vikings passing game. It is true that the Vikings don't have a star receiver with Percy Harvin out due to injury but that's not an excuse. Ponder made mistake after mistake after mistake today. You can't blame that on anyone but Christian Ponder.

Can you imagine if the Vikings didn't have AP? The game would have been even more unbearable to watch. The only reason to watch Vikings games right now is because of AP. He single handedly gives the Vikings a chance to win. The only problem is that Christian Ponder and the Minnesota Vikings defense throws that all away.

Player of the Game: Adrian Peterson. This is the only player who showed up for the Vikings today.

4 comments:

I don't know about Adrian Peterson being the only player that had a good game. Jared Allen had 1.5 sacks and would have had an interception too if it wasn't for Ed Hochuli blowing that roughing the passer call. The main reason the Vikings defense was exposed today was because they were on the field most of the day. When the Vikings offense is only on the field for 21 minutes the defense is going to get tired.

Penalties killed us today. Penalties extend drives against the defense and stop the offense. You need to be almost perfect to overcome them. Neither Ponder nor the defense were perfect. AP once again played exceptional football. Even better perhaps than his 75 yard touchdown was the fly patter pass route where he was 2 yards open and Ponder failed to deliver the ball on target. I still believe in Ponder but the two interceptions today were clearly on Ponder - no bad bounce, exceptional defense, but poorly thrown and/or "what was he thinking?" Ponder is developing a very bad habit of happy feet -- until he learns to step up in the pocket, throw with his feet under him, and the line provides enough protection for him to do this, he will continue to throw on the run, missing open receivers, and throwing back across the field for interceptions. Game plan/offensive coordinator could help with a stronger air attack early. They need to call the pass on first and second down as well as 3rd and long, and they need to establish the quick out, short completion catch and run, as well as the screen pass. We have yet to establish a long wide receiver threat and Rudolph's role as prime receiver is well known and well covered. Game plan is a big part of this, receivers need to improve, blocking (especially picking up the blitz) needs improvement, but today showed that Ponder himself needs to step up his game. A sack or two attempting to step up in the pocket is far less costly than poorly thrown interceptions. QB rushing yards are more valuable to the offense as a designed play, than as a happenstance when running for his life turns into a gain or even a long first down pickup. This game could have and should have been won. Clean up the penalties, step up in the pocket, throw early and run often (let AP carry the load) and please Ponder, quit throwing back across the field when you are running for you life, nothing good happens when you do.